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The majority of people who are morbidly obese do not have a "medical" cause of their obesity, in the sense that treating some medical condition wil restore them to a normal weight. It is possible to become morbidly obese just by eating too much, and that is what usually happens.
It could probably be said that anyone who becomes morbidly obese has an eating disorder and psychological issues to deal with.
From witnessing what your dd's FACS teacher chose to cook, do you think her obesity is related to a medical condition or to poor food choices? Have you considered discussing the curiculum for this class with the administration?
And the deficiencies of CPS in dealing with other children and situations is irrelevant. It would be ideal if CPS never made any mistakes. But that does not mean that it should stop doing its job because it is not infallible. Give CPS the funds to hire good people and the number of mistakes would go way down.
As far as cooking classes are concerned, I would be surprised if the Rainbow Hospital Program does not address that. But at some point, the mother has to come to her senses and realize that, though it is hard, she has to change what she is doing. Recipes are just a compuer link away. She has to step up and take responsibility for her child's health.
I mostly agree with this and I'm not making excuses for these people or saying that it is for sure a medical problem. My point is that I don't know if family services knows for sure if it's a medical problem. I'm with stillkit on this one--it's too much of an invasion. I know our society is sick but I don't think forcibly removing a child from the home is the way to fix it. Like I said, I'd love to know what the success rate is for doing something like this--for one thing, fat people eat for comfort, and I'd sure need some comfort if I got ripped from my mom as a small child. I'd do whatever it takes to get the food and if I couldn't get it, I'd be setting up some emotional stuff inside that would make it that much more difficult to not use food as a crutch later. Heck, I'd eat out of rebelliousness.
BTW, this comes from a woman who had to call family services on my sis, not once but twice. I'm not 100% opposed to intervention--I just think the obesity thing has too many fuzzy areas.
I mostly agree with this and I'm not making excuses for these people or saying that it is for sure a medical problem. My point is that I don't know if family services knows for sure if it's a medical problem. I'm with stillkit on this one--it's too much of an invasion. I know our society is sick but I don't think forcibly removing a child from the home is the way to fix it. Like I said, I'd love to know what the success rate is for doing something like this--for one thing, fat people eat for comfort, and I'd sure need some comfort if I got ripped from my mom as a small child. I'd do whatever it takes to get the food and if I couldn't get it, I'd be setting up some emotional stuff inside that would make it that much more difficult to not use food as a crutch later. Heck, I'd eat out of rebelliousness.
BTW, this comes from a woman who had to call family services on my sis, not once but twice. I'm not 100% opposed to intervention--I just think the obesity thing has too many fuzzy areas.
This intervention was drastic but justified. This child's weight is literally off the chart. If he had a "medical condition" we would not even be hearing about it. There just are not many medical conditions that would cause an 8 year old boy to weigh 200 pounds. If he had one, the experts in childhood obesity at Rainbow Hospital would have diagnosed it.
Ninety five percent of 8 year old boys weigh less than about 75 pounds. Two hundred pounds is more than what 90% of twenty year old males weigh.
He is more than 125 pounds overweight, has medical complications from the weight, and his mother has not helped him do anything about it.
How do you think his classmates treat him? Do you think he participates in any activities that require physical exertion?
The argument seems to be that a child should not be removed from the home just because he is fat.
He was not removed from the home just because he is fat. He is way beyond just being fat and he is sick.
I suspect his doctors have been warning his mother since he was an infant that the weight was a big problem. She had ample warning to do something about it and didn't.
The children's weight loss program that he was referred to includes psychologists.
I suspect that social services had plenty of input on the emotional factors involved here, and the emotional fallout from being in foster care may be far less than the emotional fallout from being so obese you have to sleep in a CPAP mask at night at the age of eight.
genH Data (http://genh.org/data.html - broken link)
"Socially, poor nutrition and lack of physical activity have well-documented associations with lower academic achievement and success including lower standardized test scores, increased school absence and tardiness, increased behavioral problems including hyperactivity and poor emotional functioning, inability to concentrate, and decreased psychosocial functioning. Additionally, children who are overweight or obese suffer from increased anxiety and depression, higher rates of self-medication with alcohol and drugs, earlier and risky sexual behavior, increased incidence of self-injurious behavior including cutting and suicide attempts, and increased vulnerability to bullying."
I do not think you can use psychological harm as a reason not to intervene here.
I have read many times that preventative medicine is cheaper that the more expensive cures. Staying at a healthy weight and not smoking and not drinking in excess are preventative medicine in my mind.
Of course they are...but that should be your choice....I've known quite a few (much as I hate to admit) .. healthy non-smokers/drinkers that have succumbed to cancer.....and then I know others who's lifestyles are very unhealthy, and detrimental...yet they keep on ticking
Of course they are...but that should be your choice....I've known quite a few (much as I hate to admit) .. healthy non-smokers/drinkers that have succumbed to cancer.....and then I know others who's lifestyles are very unhealthy, and detrimental...yet they keep on ticking
But here we are talking about a child, not an adult. Should we allow this child to smoke and drink if he wants to?
200 lbs. is excessive enough for government intervention, is 190 lbs? How about 180? Or, 150? At what point does it become "excessive" enough to warrant intervention? How about ANY evidence of overweight?
I completely agree, this is fat hysteria gone horribly wrong. What happens when the foster care providers can't induce significant weight loss in this kid? Should he be taken away from the state? My mom worked for CPS and foster care is terrible for children and should be an absolute last resort.
I completely agree, this is fat hysteria gone horribly wrong. What happens when the foster care providers can't induce significant weight loss in this kid? Should he be taken away from the state? My mom worked for CPS and foster care is terrible for children and should be an absolute last resort.
The child was removed not because he is "fat".
He was removed because he is so fat he is sick, and his mother was not able to deal with the problem over a period of a year and a half. He is so fat that he cannot breathe properly. He has a life threatening condition.
The whole thing could have been prevented if the mom had done what needed to be done.
How many parents do YOU know that allow their young children to smoke and drink??
You said people should be allowed to make their own choices. Do you think that an eight year old boy should be allowed to make choices that are detrimental to his health? Including overeating?
"Very little data about smoking is regularly collected for kids under 12, but the peak years for first trying to smoke appear to be in the sixth and seventh grades, or between the ages of 11 and 13, with a considerable number starting even earlier."
"The average age when youth first try alcohol is 11 years for boys and 13 years for girls.
By age 14, 41 percent of children have had least one drink.
The average age at which Americans begin drinking regularly is 15.9 years old."
So, yes, there are parents who are failing in their responsibility to their kids with regard to tobacco and alcohol. Preteens who drink and smoke are not being properly supervised, and that is a failure of parenting.
You said people should be allowed to make their own choices. Do you think that an eight year old boy should be allowed to make choices that are detrimental to his health? Including overeating?
"Very little data about smoking is regularly collected for kids under 12, but the peak years for first trying to smoke appear to be in the sixth and seventh grades, or between the ages of 11 and 13, with a considerable number starting even earlier."
"The average age when youth first try alcohol is 11 years for boys and 13 years for girls.
By age 14, 41 percent of children have had least one drink.
The average age at which Americans begin drinking regularly is 15.9 years old."
So, yes, there are parents who are failing in their responsibility to their kids with regard to tobacco and alcohol. Preteens who drink and smoke are not being properly supervised, and that is a failure of parenting.
These numbers are nothing new. Kids have been trying alcohol and tobacco and pot for decades. And it is not always the failing of the parent. The best we can do is lead by example and give your children the skills to make good choices. Other than that parents have no power whatsoever over their children. They will do what they will do regardless of what we want.
But if they grow up in a home that has open communication, parents who do not smoke or do drugs and drink responsibly, and also eat healthy and not crap, chances are good the kids will emulate the parents.
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